


If You Give a Selkie Their Coat...

by Tabby (Golden_Tiger)



Category: Marble Hornets
Genre: Alex is Jay’s buddy, He isn’t welcome here, Jay’s all bubbly and excited while Tim’s just confused, M/M, Marble Hornets AU, No Operator, Selkie Jay, They didn’t meet in college at all, They’re adults, Trans Jay, ftm character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-25
Updated: 2018-10-05
Packaged: 2019-07-17 15:21:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16098368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Golden_Tiger/pseuds/Tabby
Summary: Based off that prompt where giving a selkie their coat back is considered a marriage proposal. Tim accidentally knocks Jay’s coat off his chair in a crowded restaurant and puts it back not knowing what he just did. Oops.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure when this will be updated honestly. Just bear with me please. I apologize for the shitty ‘If You Give a Moose a Muffin’ title. I’m definitely open to better suggestions. Except for ‘But First Let Me Take a Selkie.’

The restaurant was filled with the low roar of people talking and the smell of seafood. Some tables were more quiet while others were much more rowdy and made their presence well known. It wasn’t often that Tim came here to eat. Hell, seafood wasn’t even his favourite thing, but that was what the coworkers wanted, so here he was, in a chair at a rectangular table in a seafood restuarant packed beyond what was probably within fire safety standards.

Tim didn’t necessarily dislike seafood. It just wasn’t his favourite. Shrimp were werird with their many little legs. Mussels were just... weird. Lobsters were like the cockroaches of the sea, and seeing people eat crab legs had made that crustacean a no for him as well. Fish was usually a safe bet though, even though salt water fish was usually tougher than fresh water fish. Therefore, fish it was.

There was a variety of types, but Tim was trying to watch his weight and picked the dish that seemed to have the least amount of carbs. He would never be skinny, not with his body type, but he could at least keep himself healthy which counted for something. Granted, he wasn’t fat though had been pretty pudgy as a kid which had elicited teasing and rude jokes from his peers. Nowadays Tim still had a bit of softness to him, especially in his limbs and stomach which would never go away, but he was strong too with a thick and stocky build. Lifting heavy things wasn’t really a problem for him at all.

He had to admit that he didn’t know what the worst part of a restaurant was. Waiting for the food if you didn’t order a soup or salad with it? How crowded they were? How loud it was? Tim sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he checked his phone though he knew there wouldn’t be anything interesting. No new messages of any sorts and definitely no emergencies that might require him to leave this dread social event.

His mom was in very good health, so he didn’t have to worry about her at all thankfully. Tim would love to escape the restaurant, but he’d rather suffer here than have his mother in the hospital. She had done an excellent job of raising him for being a single mom. His dad left her when he was still too little to remember, and he knew it had been rough on her to suddenly have to support not only herself but a very young child. He still wasn’t quite sure how she did it to this day.

In order to escape the coworkers’ chatter, Tim excused himself to go to the bathroom. He had to turn sideways sometimes, saying ‘excuse me’ frequently to people who had their chairs pushed out too far to allow him to pass through without disturbing them. Maybe he should find a different route back to his table once he was done in the bathroom, one that wasn’t so crowded. The male could dream, couldn't he?

He didn’t actually have to use the bathroom, just wanted to escape the social responsibilities that came with having coworkers. The bathroom was quieter though the muffled din of the restaurant could be heard through the door. Tim used the reatroom and then took his sweet time washing his hands, watching himself in the sink as he had nothing better to do. It was nothing new to him. Same old combed hair, dark eyes, and shaved face. No bags under his eyes thankfully.

A sigh left the man as he realized that he couldn’t stay in here forever. One of his coworkers might ask him where he was, and he couldn’t just say that he was avoiding him. So Tim left the bathroom and made his way back through the crowd of tables and chairs constantly getting in the way, accidently knocking someone’s coat off the back of their seat.

”Shit, I’m so sorry!” he immediately apologized as he hurriedly picked up the fur coat which was a very light colour, a mix of brown and grey that got darker on the back with irregular spots all over it. The material was soft too. Tim placed it back on the chair, the owner turning around to look at him. It took Tim a second to try and identify whether they were male or female. They looked like a mix.

He settled on male due to the short hair cut and flat chest as well as the shape of their face not to mention they were dressed more masculine though definitely had an effeminate look to them. Wide hazel eyes stared at him in surprise as Tim quickly ducked his head to avoid eye contact, giving another apology as he hurtied back to his seat. Those eyes followed him as far as they could. He felt their gaze.

The rest of the dinner wasn’t very eventful nor fun for Tim, not that it had been in the first place. His mind kept wandering back to that person with the fur coat. It wasn’t even cold out right now. Why have a fur coat with them, especially in a restaurant where it could easily get dirty? Why did they look at him like that? He hadn’t gotten it all dirty by knocking it down had he? The thing looked expensive. Tim’s job paid well but not that well. God, he hoped he didn’t have to replace it.

Having not eaten much of his dinner, Tim asked for a to-go box to put it in. Did fish like this even reheat well? The male supposed he’d find out later, paying for his own meal as eveyone had agreed to that, not wanting to pay for entire table. That would get expensive fast. So the tab was split amongst them and paid, people gradually getting up once they were done talking to leave.

Tim left the table pretty quickly afer having paid, thanking his coworkers for the night out he wasn’t at all thankful for, not that he told them that part. After all, he’d still have to see them at work come Monday. A sigh left him, hand running through his hair. Next time he was finding a way out of ‘their night out.’ That had not been worth it.

As he was fishing in his pockets for his car keys, he heard hurried footsteps behind him. Had he left them at the table somehow? The man turned around, ready to reluctantly greet a coworker only to see someone else. Two someones actually. It was the effeminate looking male from earlier, fur coat around his shoulders. With him was a much taller person, probably at least six feet in height. Tim wouldn't be surprised if it was more.

The smaller one with his coat opened his mouth only to close it only to open it once more and fail yet again to speak. His friend spoke up for him. “He said he wanted to talk to you.” Yeah, that much was obvious, but the feminine man wasn’t really doing a good job. A sigh left him at this.

“I’m sorry about knocking your coat off the chair. If I got it dirty, I’ll replace it if I can, I promise.” A look of confusion appeared on the small male’s face before he smiled ans laughed a little, shaking his head. Okay, Tim didn’t see that coming at all. He had to admit he was more than a little uncomfortable.

“No, my coat’s just fine, thank you,” he spoke in a cheery voice, lips curved into a happy looking smile, an excited look in his eyes. Tim didn’t know why he was so excuted though. They didn’t even know each other. “I just wanted to know if I could... ah... could...” The male looked to his friend desperately for help.

The tall brunette adjusted his glasses a little and sighed but didn’t really seem annoyed by the request. “Sorry, he’s not from around here. He was wondering if he could get your number.” Tim raised an eyebrow in confusion. This was new for him. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to give it to him though. After all, he was a stranger. They were strangers. Didn’t even know each other.

”I don’t know... I usually don’t just give my phone number to complete strangers. It isn’t the smartest thing to do.”

”I’ll give you mine!” the effeminate male piped up, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pen and small notepad. Something was scribbled down on it before he tore out the page and handed it to Tim who took it rather reluctantly.

”Your name is Jay?” he asked, glancing from the paper to the male who nodded. “Right... I’m Timothy. Most just call me Tim though.” It couldn’t hurt to just give his first name to the male, could it? After all all, there were countless people that went by Timothy and Tim.

“Nice! This is Alex by the way. I’m visiting the area, so he’s letting me stay at his place. I’m thinking of moving here actually, but I’m not sure. I’d need to find a place to live and a job first of course. Kinda stupid to just randomly pack up and move someplace else without making sure you can get by there.”

Alex rolled his eyes at Jay’s words. That and the nervous laugh the effeminate male gave hinted that he was probably speaking from experience. “Well, it’s a pretty nice area, I can say that. Beach is pretty rocky, so if you’re looking for nice sandy beaches, this isn’t the place to look. It can get pretty cold too. Not many people go there to swim as a result, more because of the rocks than the cold.”

The little bit of advice Tim gave made Jay’s face brighten though the male didn’t know why. Maybe he was just an easily excited and energetic guy. Tim certainly wasn’t and didn’t get it, but oh well. “Well, thanks a lot, Tim! Call me later, okay?” The two were moving towards what Tim assumed was Alex’s car, reminding him that he should get home and change into some more comfortable clothes. After all, his social obligations for the night had been fulfilled. He could finally relax to some extent. 

Granted, he didn’t know what he’d do to relax other than smoke a cigarette, and that didn’t use up a lot of time. There was the news, but at this point it was basically a bunch of playground squabbling between political parties with a tiny speck of news mixed in. Not exactly his idea of fun. If he wanted to watch people squabble, he’d hang around in the break room at work.

A sigh left the man as he glanced at the number he’d been given by Jay before shoving it into his pocket to drive home, putting the keys into the ignition of his truck. What was so exciting about a rocky beach where some bad waves could smash you against the rocks and kill you? The guy didn’t seem like the suicidal type. Maybe he was hoping for peace and quiet because just about nobody went there. Whatever the reason, it wasn’t any of his business. Jay was just strange with his feminine looks, fur coat, and bubbly personality, that was all.


	2. Chapter 2

“You know he’s going to be just like the others.”

”You don’t know that!”

”Give me one instance where you weren’t rejected the moment everything was explained.” Alex’s request was met with silence as Jay knew he couldn’t answer it. “He’s human. He probably doesn’t even know your kind exists. Selkies are nowhere near as well known as mermaids or vampires in human culture.”

”He could be different-“ Jay tried in an attempt to deny what they both knew was true. Tim hadn’t seemed to recognize that Jay was a selkie by his coat. He just looked uncomfortable when he was approached outside the restaurant after knocking Jay’s coat off his chair, like he just wanted to get away. If he had been proposing, he would have been wanting to stay and get to know Jay, even if he just mean to show interest in him. Hell, Tim had been hesitant about even giving the effeminate male his number.

Alex seemed to know by the look on Jay’s face that he’d come to terms with reality. Tim most likely did not know what Jay was and definitely wasn’t proposing even if he did. The smaller male was hoping for a mate as he didn’t have one. There had always been small flings, but once they got too deep into what and who Jay was, those small flings ended rather abruptly.

He couldn’t help but get excited when people ‘gave him back his coat.’ He tended to forget that not many humans knew of selkies and that even fewer humans believed in them. Most were just trying to be polite and fix things if they had been the one to knock it down. Human culture was not the same as selkie culture, that was for sure. People dated before proposing in human culture.

Selkies were both humans and seals, and seals had their heat cycles where they looked for a mate to have a pup with. They didn’t really court beforehand, and selkies followed that. All selkies were female, so they waited for a male to come along and mate with them. Jay had been a female too before he realized he was trans, cut his hair, and underwent top surgery with Alex’s help. Selkies simply didn’t know what being trans was.

He was a trans selkie which was a pretty frowned upon thing with how close the species was to nature, to the ocean. For Jay to go and modify his body in that unnatural way was unthinkable. There were no male selkies, only female, and being reminded of this constantly was like a thorn in his side he couldn’t get out.

Selkie society wasn’t like human society. They didn’t have the internet. Sure, they could go somewhere to use a library computer if they wanted to and if they even knew internet existed, but they were a very traditional species that didn’t like change and didn’t trust humans, especially males, for a good reason, at least in the past.

It wasn’t uncommon long ago for men to find and take a selkie’s coat. She couldn’t shift forms and return to the ocean, her life, without it. She couldn’t hunt or do much of anything. Selkies used their human form when they saw fit or when it was neccessary to escape danger. Seal flippers were fast in water, and human legs were fast on land. The selkie was usually forced to marry the man as a result in order to survive and often have his children. This all was another reason Jay identifying as male was greatly frowned upon.

However, that was a very long time ago. It was very rare that anyone ever saw a selkie with how removed humans were from the existence of creatures like that, thinking they were just fairy tales and myths. The selkies were the same as far as being secluded went.

They avoided other mythical creatures such as mermaids and sirens, just interacting with normal sea creatures, usually seals for obvious reasons. They tended to live in more secluded places humans didn’t go and quickly donned their skins when one was nearby, blending in with their normal pinniped kin easily.

With everything going on, Jay had just left the pod. He couldn’t just magically decide to be cisgender and happy in his natural female body, and they weren’t his favourite to hang out with after he came out. When he could swim away with ease, why stay with a pod that was being so toxic to him mostly because of how he idefinited?

Now he had undergone top surgery and started the injections. Alex knew what he was, but that was a story for another time. He said this area was a nice one for Jay and offered to let him stay at his house while he explored. A rocky beach people didn’t frequent often that had cold waters was great for a selkie in all honesty. The addition of Tim living here made it all the better.

Unfortunately, Alex was right in assuming Tim would freak upon finding out Jay was a selkie. It always happened, that is, if they ever got past him being trans. A lot couldn’t handle him identifying as the opposite sex. How would they handle him being a completely different species?

Jay knew his likelihood of finding a mate was slim. He didn’t even know how selkies found mates with how a lot of them seemed to have a strong hatred of human males. Maybe they mates with seals? He shuddered at the thought. He was a seal himself sometimes, but it still seemed wrong to mate with his more animalistic kin. Maybe they mated with other aquatic mythical creatures like mermaids or cecaelia.

Either way, Jay didn’t know or care at the moment. He knew they could mate with humans, and he had learned more towards males as far as attraction went. The interaction with him and the rest of his pod ruined what attraction he had to females. He didn't think all women were bad. He would gladly be friends with them, but he just couldn’t get past how his pod ostracized him.

Alex had told him there were plenty of trashy males in the world. Thankfully Jay hadn’t had to endure much other than some whistles and transphobic slurs. Unfortunately he learned from Alex that it could get a lot worse than that very quickly if he wasn’t careful. This quite frankly terrified him. Rape just wasn’t something that happened in the pods all that much, but to have it be seemingly such a common thing to look out for here?

Tim seemed like a nice guy though. He didn’t seem like someone who would cause Jay had to scream for help if he started to approach him. The male seemed tired but not really relaxed. Then again, the selkie had put him in a weird position suddenly, and he didn't seem like a social guy.

Still, Tim had been respectfully dressed and was polite and very apologetic for knocking Jay’s coat off his chair. He wasn’t practically pouncing on Jay though Alex was there if anything went wrong. Alex wasn’t someone to mess with at over six feet tall and pretty strong. He could hold his own. Tim did seem intimidated by Jay's friend but not really in the bad way, just a nervous and uncomfortable way because he didn't know what he might have done wrong.

The most he could do for now was hope that Tim called him honestly. He gave him his number. Jay just had to hope that the man wasn’t too weirded out or intimidated. He supposed it was pretty off to just give a completely random stranger his number. They hadn’t even really talked or anything.

”What if he doesn’t call me?” he asked his friend as they continued to drive down the road in the dark, the headlights of the car guiding them when there were no streetlamps.

”Then you move on. Given how he was acting, I don’t think he will. He’s either taken, doesn’t lean that way, or he’s not attracted to you.” That was both the wonderful and horrible thing about Alex. He told things how they were. It was nice to have honesty and facts when he was getting carried away with his fantasies, but it still hurt to be dragged back to face reality like that. He was right though.

The rest of the ride back to the house was silent. Jay was the talkative one out of the two after all, and if he wasn’t speaking, Alex certainly wasn’t going to answer. The taller male wished him a goodnight once they got home before heading off to the living room to watch the news before going to bed. Jay merely slipped off to his room, uninterested in human politics. After all, he wasn’t human, so why should he worry over them?

Again though, Alex was the voice of reason on this topic. If Jay was to have a human mate and live a somewhat human life then he would have to be somewhat involved in human politics. It was a nasty but neccessary thing. The selkie’s stubborn response to this was that he didn’t have a human mate yet so he didn’t have to worry about human politics. They were stupid and pointless.

The male brushed his teeth before getting into bed with a sigh. At this rate he’d die alone. Granted, he was still pretty young, but he was allowed to be dramatic. After reaching a certain age, most humans just stopped looking for a mate unless they happened to be a hopeless romantic even in their fifties. The male was in his early twenties currently. A lot of humans dated even before then. Hell, he’d been dating people for a while. It just never lasted for obvious reasons.

Maybe Tim would call tomorrow. Maybe the next day. He sure hoped it was soon, even if it was just a voicemail or text saying that he wanted nohing to do with him. At least then he wouldn’t be waiting for something that wouldn’t come. Jay couldn’t help his impatientence. After all, he was a hopeless romantic desperate for a mate himself.


End file.
